Bread Ahead: A Masterclass in Classic Baking

Bread Ahead, written by the founder of a popular group of London bakeries, is a welcome blend of familiar British classics and continental bakes.  Eccles cakes, Bakewell tart, and sticky toffee pudding appear alongside ciabatta, laminated pastries, and clafoutis.

Author Matthew Jones writes clear and careful recipes in a reassuring voice. "Don't worry if," he says from time to time, making it clear that you can recover from that cracked pastry crust or some other fearful development.

His sense of flavor leans toward the comfortingly familiar, but he's not averse to changing up a classic now and then: the stalwart English sausage roll becomes a lentil roll, for instance.

Many recipes offer a sense of occasion while others would squeeze nicely into a quiet Sunday morning, and it's easy to imagine taking advantage of his chapter for jams and preserves should you want to embellish the breads and Christmas bakes .

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.